The skinny kid running routes wasn't the most imposing player at the summer camps back in 2008.

Terrance Williams occasionally dropped balls, and his speed didn't measure up to the fastest prospects.

Those factors made most recruiters write off Williams after a few glimpses of film.

“I had one recruiter from a Big 12 school tell me they couldn't take him,” said Joel Evans, Williams' former coach at W.T. White High School in Dallas. “Others talked about his speed, or lack thereof, and questioned his hands. But I knew deep down that he was as good as anybody around. It just took the right people to bring it out of him.”

Baylor coach Art Briles didn't believe that Williams' two-star recruiting grade was all that accurate. It might take time, Briles reasoned, but giving Williams time to develop in his spread offense could make him a productive player.

Williams rewarded Briles' astute assessment by blossoming into one of the nation's most productive players as a senior.

Playing in the Bears' explosive passing offense, Williams has 10 touchdowns, 71 receptions and a nation-leading 1,340 yards this season. He's grabbed at least 10 catches four times and is challenging for the Biletnikoff Award as college football's top receiver.

“That player can flat get it,” Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads said after watching Williams produce 13 catches for 190 yards against his team. “He didn't just make one dramatic catch but three or four like you'll see on Sundays (in the NFL). I think he's the best receiver I've seen all season.”

Williams has added 30 pounds of muscle since arriving in college and has enough speed to average 18.9 yards per catch. The 6-foot-2, 205-pounder, now considered a potential first-round NFL draft pick, is proving you can never believe everything you read in recruiting reports.

“It's been kind of fun showing people what I could do once I got a chance,” Williams said. “It took people some time to find me, but I just took it as a challenge to keep getting better.”

Williams also has shown a knack for making big plays in key situations. His career highlight came last season when he grabbed the game-winning touchdown against Oklahoma, helping the Bears beat the Sooners for the first time in 20 tries and sparking Robert Griffin III's Heisman Trophy charge.

He'll be matched up against the Sooners on Saturday afternoon and relishes the opportunity to continue to prove those skeptics wrong.

“This has been a good place for me,” Williams said. “A receiver can't have a better offense than this one. Just to learn with coaches and NFL players, it was perfect. It was just me doing a lot of watching and asking questions and getting better when I had the chance.”